Another Saint Patrick’s day has come and gone, the classic dish was boiled and served to the masses. Now I don’t really like food coloring in my beer or an entirely boiled till its gray mass entree. Maybe i’m no fun, but if I am going to take three hours to make something I want it to be beautiful and tasty at the end. When I was kid, we had a bar/restaurant and my mom always served this dish, every year, then later she would make it for the family. I love her version, she makes colcannon with kale, and she boils the cabbage and beef. Many people don’t like cabbage because the only way they’ve had it, is in boiled form. I like it boiled, but I love it roasted. As with most natural foods, cabbage has natural sugars in it, this gets lost when you boil it….not to mention the slippery texture offends the pallets of some. When it’s roasted cabbage becomes a whole new experience, texture, and flavor. I picked up a beautiful, all natural, locally sourced and brined brisket (no flourescent pink finish on this one).
To braise beef:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees, in a large dutch oven place corned beef fat side up with seasonings, cover half way with water, cover, cook three or so hours, the last 45 minutes or so the cover can be removed so that the fat side caramelizes and gets a golden brown color, you can add potatoes the last hour or make colcannon with some organic “dinosaur” kale.
For cabbage:
2 lbs of organic cabbage….I cut it into wedges,placed it on a half size sheet pan, and seasoned it with salt, pepper, garlic, and a nice smokey Spanish paprika, add herbs….add what you like in the amounts you prefer, if you try to avoid salt etc, drizzle with oil (I used olive oil) add butter if you want a richer dish, and put in the oven, mine was at 325 cuz that was the temp I used to braise my corned beef. Check the cabbage after about 20min it should be golden and beautiful. This method can be used for all types of veg…..I think I will roast a head of cauliflower next and top with capers and lemon. I hope you will try this method with some of your less then favorite veggies and realize how great they can be….gluten free, low carb, vegan….it can really elevate all diets and its easy!